People fall and run into objects at all stages of life. These impacts place people at risk, the outcome of which may vary from no damage to death. An infant may be dropped, suffer permanent brain damage, stunted growth, and premature death. An eight-year old without a seat belt may suffer a severe concussion and permanent impairment in an automobile accident when his head hits the windshield. A high school basketball player may lose his balance and continue onward after a layup to crash into a wall behind the basket. A triathlon runner decompensates and falls as she approaches the finish line. A middle aged man damages his hand by tripping over an uneven panel in a concrete sidewalk while running to his car. A nonagenarian who still rides her bicycle misses a stair step, suffers a bad fall, and doesn't live to see the next day.
Considering the number and extent of impacts during childhood and earlier adult life it is a wonder that there is not more medical damage recognized. Yet life's earlier years are not marked as being a primary time of risk, perhaps because of the physical, neurological, occupational, and other plasticity of youth. However, as people age, they become more likely to fall and their body becomes more vulnerable so they become more likely to sustain significant injury when they fall. The healing processes become slower as we age and so we heal more slowly. Thus, the same injury can have a higher life impact for older people, and because the healing process takes time, a vicious cycle ensues leading the person to be weaker and vulnerable to additional falls.